Chick-fil-A Bowl president and CEO Gary Stokan: "We had Nick Saban sold in 2008 when they came in and beat Clemson. That's really the launch of their run, that started it. Then we had them again the next year against Virginia Tech. ... On the Florida State said, Jimbo took the job in (2010). I asked him to play in the game, and he said 'I'd love to, but not right now. Let me get my program in place and my recruits here and we'll do it then.' So fast-forward 3-4 years we were able to do it.

"I believe that college football should keep its intersectional rivalries, should keep its home-and-home. But on the other side, if you're looking at potentially getting into an area where you want to recruit, where your alumni are, where a financial windfall can take place. In the case of the ACC and the SEC it works because you have four conference games at home, with four non-conference games to schedule. They build their budget on seven home games, so as long as you can schedule seven home games, you've made your budget. Now you've got one game to schedule. And if you can schedule it in Atlanta and make $5 million, where you net $3 million for a home game, that $2 million is a win. For your recruiting base, coming to Atlanta is a win. Playing in front of 30,000 of your fans is a win. So there's no real down side.

"It's harder to do home-and-home, because when you play the away game part of that, you don't make any money. So if you can do like Nick Saban has done and go neutral-neutral, $5 million one year and $4 million the next year, that's $5-6 million more than you would have made playing a home-and-home. Do I believe in home-and-home? Most definitely. That's how college football was built. But when you get an opportunity to play in one of these neutral site games and get a financial and recruiting windfall and where your alumni are, I think it makes sense."